Id been considering signing up to the following course from Wilderness Survival Skills as I thought it looked interesting and a bit out of the ordinary
http://www.wilderness-survival.co.uk/the-hunter-gatherer/
Part of what made the course a little different was that before attending the course there was a requirement to show
at least four examples of personal craftsmanship - to include something you have carved from green wood, sewn from your own handmade buckskin, knapped from flint and woven from plant fibres.
In itself this wasnt going to be a major problem as I had some items Id made earlier. I currently didnt have anything made of buckskin but I did have a brain tanned deer hide which I had made previously and it wouldnt be too much of a strain to make a simple tinder pouch or something similar.
As part of my decision making process as to whether I would attend I had read the course description and the following line had particularly caught my attention:
You may also bring...
· The clothes you stand up in. These must be natural fibres only.
I therefore emailed Joe to get a bit more detail on what kit I could bring along to the course and more specifically what the above phrase actually meant especially in relation to footwear. As I suspected for practicality sake the rule on natural fibres only was relaxed for footwear which was an immediate relief.
But then I got thinking why not make my own shoes from natural materials and more specifically buckskin. Id have my example of buckskin craft and would have learnt something new. And of course if the project went horribly wrong I could always make a tinder pouch and still fulfil the criteria. More broadly the course rules dont allow the use of metal tools so any crafting on the course would have to be done with natural materials.
By completing the four projects using flint tools as much as possible Id get some valuable pre-course training in. I didnt get to use natural materials much as tools for the moccs though, as due to the bad weather I had to do all the cutting indoors and my wife understandably didnt want me using the floor or our dining table as a cutting board.
Like so many of my plans this one might have got no further than a great intention, some research on the internet and then my attention switching to the next interesting project and the whole sorry process starting over again. This project however was going to be different; I already had done all the planning to make buckskin moccasins and had actually made an abortive start some time ago.
To be perfectly honest Im not as manly as I perhaps ought to be at times, and family holidays at the seaside have often been much enlivened by my pathetic hobbling and whining whenever I had to walk with bare feet on anything other than a perfect sandy beach. Therefore my moccasins were going to have to have a hard sole or at the very least some cushioning within.
The original plan had been to make foot cloths from a wool blanket with outer moccasins made of buckskin. The sole area of the buckskin outer was fairly thick and rigid offering some protection and the blanket inners would provide some cushioning. As I said above the project had faltered and Id got no further than roughing out inner cloths and making a single basic side seam style moccasin outer.
Since the time of the original project Id become the proud owner of an old sheepskin jacket from a charity shop. I decided to make the inners from this. I decided to make the inners as moccasins also so that would give me the advantage of being able to wear them separately as slippers around the house. The obvious disadvantage would be that I would be trying to make an inner to fit inside the already existing outer. Oh well I like a challenge.
There are many different styles of moccasins and often more than one pattern for making any particular style so it would be a brave or foolhardy person who would expect to make well fitting moccasins on his first attempt. Itd be more reasonable to expect to make a serviceable pair of moccasins on my first go then using the same pattern with a few alterations drawn from experience to make a second better fitted pair. Me well I made the inner moccs in one style and the outer moccs in another. Why? I wanted to have a go at two different styles and at the time I only had one sheepskin coat and one buckskin hide.
The inner moccasins I made in a pucker toe style with a vamp. Because the panels of the sheepskin jacket were quite small and Ive got large feet I wasnt able to make them with much material going up the ankle and so had to use part of the yoke to cover the ankle. Sewing sheepskin was quite easy except for an unfortunate tendency for wool fibres to get caught up in the stitches. If and when I make another pair Id definitely trim the wool short around the edge of each piece before beginning sewing.
As slippers they were great very comfortable and warm. I was very pleased (and relieved) to find my first inner fitted inside the outer moccasin Id made previously though admittedly after quite a bit of prodding and poking of the sheepskin mocc to ensure it fitted inside the outer without creases or wrinkles. The opening of the outer moccasin was also a little narrow so I made the opening larger on the second one.
The differing styles did not make a huge difference though the amount of faffing around to smooth out any creases on the inners would have probably been less if the inners had been a side seam style also.
Sewing the outer moccs was significantly more of a trial than sewing the inner moccs. Firstly making the buckskin had involved considerable work and so I didnt want to have cut it up to no useful purpose. Since it was the first and only brain tan buckskin Id ever made at that point it was a bit hard in places which meant that sewing it up necessitated using an awl to make a hole for the needle and then at times a pair of pliers to pull the needle through.
The heel tabs were the worst part and the stitching would have been better had this area not been such a chore to complete (more patience on my part would have helped too of course).
Finally I had both sets of moccasins completed and the wider opening of the second buckskin moccasin made putting the boots on as well as getting the inner in position considerably easier. Ive been wearing them only around the house so far and they seem to fit OK if just a trifle snug. I havent attached the buckskin thongs yet as I want to be sure where I want them before committing myself; instead Ive simply been tying them around the uppers.
So what did I learn?
- never make your outer moccasins before you make your inners as it would have avoided a lot of worry and measuring to have made the inners and then made the pattern for the outers based on them. I got lucky this time but I might not have.
- the tongues on the outer moccasin should have been wider (the measurements given in the pattern were wrong). I could stitch them at their bases to the ankle part but it might make the opening too narrow again. Time will tell on this one.
- to have made both pairs in side seam style would have been easier; sewing the pucker on the sheepskin mocc was a bit of a trial too.
Will I wear them on the course? Yes I think I will though I will most likely waterproof them with beeswax and animal fat first. They might be rather hot to wear but I can always wear a modern pair of trainers instead if theyre not suitable for any reason.
As an extra bonus I was able to use some of the off cuts to make the tinder pouch that had been my fallback item if the main project had been a bust. Again itll need waterproofing and so will serve as a practice piece for doing that. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice Ive cheated and used chamois for the thong; the reason being Im intending to alter the method of closure and didnt want to waste any braintan on a thong I was going to remove at a later date.
At the same time as doing the above I worked on the other three projects green woodworking, knapped flint, and woven natural fibres - and Ill report on them in future threads.
Having made my winter warmers as I like to think of them Ive now got a yen to make some more footwear. Ive got a definite hankering after making a pair of Otzi the Iceman boots anyone got any bear skin theyd be willing to part with?
http://www.wilderness-survival.co.uk/the-hunter-gatherer/
Part of what made the course a little different was that before attending the course there was a requirement to show
at least four examples of personal craftsmanship - to include something you have carved from green wood, sewn from your own handmade buckskin, knapped from flint and woven from plant fibres.
In itself this wasnt going to be a major problem as I had some items Id made earlier. I currently didnt have anything made of buckskin but I did have a brain tanned deer hide which I had made previously and it wouldnt be too much of a strain to make a simple tinder pouch or something similar.
As part of my decision making process as to whether I would attend I had read the course description and the following line had particularly caught my attention:
You may also bring...
· The clothes you stand up in. These must be natural fibres only.
I therefore emailed Joe to get a bit more detail on what kit I could bring along to the course and more specifically what the above phrase actually meant especially in relation to footwear. As I suspected for practicality sake the rule on natural fibres only was relaxed for footwear which was an immediate relief.
But then I got thinking why not make my own shoes from natural materials and more specifically buckskin. Id have my example of buckskin craft and would have learnt something new. And of course if the project went horribly wrong I could always make a tinder pouch and still fulfil the criteria. More broadly the course rules dont allow the use of metal tools so any crafting on the course would have to be done with natural materials.
By completing the four projects using flint tools as much as possible Id get some valuable pre-course training in. I didnt get to use natural materials much as tools for the moccs though, as due to the bad weather I had to do all the cutting indoors and my wife understandably didnt want me using the floor or our dining table as a cutting board.
Like so many of my plans this one might have got no further than a great intention, some research on the internet and then my attention switching to the next interesting project and the whole sorry process starting over again. This project however was going to be different; I already had done all the planning to make buckskin moccasins and had actually made an abortive start some time ago.
To be perfectly honest Im not as manly as I perhaps ought to be at times, and family holidays at the seaside have often been much enlivened by my pathetic hobbling and whining whenever I had to walk with bare feet on anything other than a perfect sandy beach. Therefore my moccasins were going to have to have a hard sole or at the very least some cushioning within.
The original plan had been to make foot cloths from a wool blanket with outer moccasins made of buckskin. The sole area of the buckskin outer was fairly thick and rigid offering some protection and the blanket inners would provide some cushioning. As I said above the project had faltered and Id got no further than roughing out inner cloths and making a single basic side seam style moccasin outer.
Since the time of the original project Id become the proud owner of an old sheepskin jacket from a charity shop. I decided to make the inners from this. I decided to make the inners as moccasins also so that would give me the advantage of being able to wear them separately as slippers around the house. The obvious disadvantage would be that I would be trying to make an inner to fit inside the already existing outer. Oh well I like a challenge.
There are many different styles of moccasins and often more than one pattern for making any particular style so it would be a brave or foolhardy person who would expect to make well fitting moccasins on his first attempt. Itd be more reasonable to expect to make a serviceable pair of moccasins on my first go then using the same pattern with a few alterations drawn from experience to make a second better fitted pair. Me well I made the inner moccs in one style and the outer moccs in another. Why? I wanted to have a go at two different styles and at the time I only had one sheepskin coat and one buckskin hide.
The inner moccasins I made in a pucker toe style with a vamp. Because the panels of the sheepskin jacket were quite small and Ive got large feet I wasnt able to make them with much material going up the ankle and so had to use part of the yoke to cover the ankle. Sewing sheepskin was quite easy except for an unfortunate tendency for wool fibres to get caught up in the stitches. If and when I make another pair Id definitely trim the wool short around the edge of each piece before beginning sewing.
As slippers they were great very comfortable and warm. I was very pleased (and relieved) to find my first inner fitted inside the outer moccasin Id made previously though admittedly after quite a bit of prodding and poking of the sheepskin mocc to ensure it fitted inside the outer without creases or wrinkles. The opening of the outer moccasin was also a little narrow so I made the opening larger on the second one.
The differing styles did not make a huge difference though the amount of faffing around to smooth out any creases on the inners would have probably been less if the inners had been a side seam style also.
Sewing the outer moccs was significantly more of a trial than sewing the inner moccs. Firstly making the buckskin had involved considerable work and so I didnt want to have cut it up to no useful purpose. Since it was the first and only brain tan buckskin Id ever made at that point it was a bit hard in places which meant that sewing it up necessitated using an awl to make a hole for the needle and then at times a pair of pliers to pull the needle through.
The heel tabs were the worst part and the stitching would have been better had this area not been such a chore to complete (more patience on my part would have helped too of course).
Finally I had both sets of moccasins completed and the wider opening of the second buckskin moccasin made putting the boots on as well as getting the inner in position considerably easier. Ive been wearing them only around the house so far and they seem to fit OK if just a trifle snug. I havent attached the buckskin thongs yet as I want to be sure where I want them before committing myself; instead Ive simply been tying them around the uppers.
So what did I learn?
- never make your outer moccasins before you make your inners as it would have avoided a lot of worry and measuring to have made the inners and then made the pattern for the outers based on them. I got lucky this time but I might not have.
- the tongues on the outer moccasin should have been wider (the measurements given in the pattern were wrong). I could stitch them at their bases to the ankle part but it might make the opening too narrow again. Time will tell on this one.
- to have made both pairs in side seam style would have been easier; sewing the pucker on the sheepskin mocc was a bit of a trial too.
Will I wear them on the course? Yes I think I will though I will most likely waterproof them with beeswax and animal fat first. They might be rather hot to wear but I can always wear a modern pair of trainers instead if theyre not suitable for any reason.
As an extra bonus I was able to use some of the off cuts to make the tinder pouch that had been my fallback item if the main project had been a bust. Again itll need waterproofing and so will serve as a practice piece for doing that. The eagle eyed amongst you will notice Ive cheated and used chamois for the thong; the reason being Im intending to alter the method of closure and didnt want to waste any braintan on a thong I was going to remove at a later date.
At the same time as doing the above I worked on the other three projects green woodworking, knapped flint, and woven natural fibres - and Ill report on them in future threads.
Having made my winter warmers as I like to think of them Ive now got a yen to make some more footwear. Ive got a definite hankering after making a pair of Otzi the Iceman boots anyone got any bear skin theyd be willing to part with?
Last edited:
